Blood bonds
by MarinaUchimaki
Summary: Naruto was reborn into the modern day world. However the blonde is confronted with growing up without his precious memories and living through a cruel fate. What will happen when Sasuke and Naruto are finally reunited? SasuNaru. Playful MenNaru, MenHina, OCxSakura.
1. The orphanage

**Disclaimer:** Naruto does not belong to me.

**A/N:** Hello there, this is a SasuNaru fanfic. English is not my first language and this is not beta-ed, so i would really appreciate if you pointed out if i'm butchering the English language. With that said, let's begin, i hope you enjoy your reading.

_'Thinking'_

"Talking"

* * *

_**Chapter I. The orphanage.**_

* * *

It was all a haze of red, nothing made sense. He remembered a voice coming from a shadow into his mind, he couldn't see his face, but that voice, it was so much like his own. And then, a deep growl resonating into his head… again...

_'What happened to me?...'_

His vision was coming back in blurry heaps. He was feeling dizzy, disoriented and felt nauseated. There was a strong odor in the air which explained the nausea, and he was trembling slighty _'Where am i?'_. Slowly he raised his head up, and then he noticed he was hugging himself in an attempt to stop the trembling. His vision was getting better now, and no wonder it smelled so bad, he was in between a pile of reeking trash in what seemed to be an humid and mostly dark alley. As fast as his body permitted him, he rose to his feet helping himself on the wall behind.

_'How did i get here?'_ Naruto asked to himself confused.

He knew this alley, there were always junkies and homeless lying around, he brought them food sometimes. Well, staying there surely wouldn't give him his answer. Feeling a little better he walked to the entrance being careful not to trip with some trash or broken glass. The alley wasn't completely deserted, there was a man he didn't recognize passed out onto the ground, but he couldn't help the lost soul more than he could help himself right now.

When he reached the entrance his eyes were bombarded with the lights on the street, and he quickly covered them with his right hand. Just then a distinct smell hit his nostrils. _'What the hell?…'_. He slowly uncovered his eyes and put the hand to his eye level. And then he saw it. His hands, his arms, his clothes, everything…

"Blood…", he whispered to himself in a low raspy voice, as if he had been screaming for hours. _'So much of it…'_. But he wasn't hurting, it didn't made sense if he was actually wounded, and as he inspected his body he knew he wasn't. 'Who's blood is this?'. He panicked, he needed to go home to his brother, he would know, besides he was the only one that would be straight forward with him.

All the way home he was continuously repeating into his mind _'what have i done now?... what have i done now?'_. That's until he heard the police sirens. He had reached the far end of the street and came to a halt to observe the commotion developing itself in front of his home. There was an ambulance and some police officers were closing the area with yellow tape that read 'Do not cross'. His brother Keiichi was outside of the house, he seemed to be in shock, and his adoptive mother was crying being held by a neighbor who hindered her from falling giving way to her weak knees. He wondered where was Andrew, the man he called dad this days. And then his eyes got impossibly wide when the paramedics came out of the house carrying what had to be a person, but a dead one, the body was fully covered by a white sheet.

**Xxx**

He ran, Naruto ran like there was no tomorrow, he was so confused, it couldn't have been him, then why was he covered in blood?. He wasn't sure of anything, trouble always seemed to come to him, people thought he was weird as it was calling him a 'terrifying boy'.

He didn't remember doing anything that would make them think that way of him, if anything, he followed their every whim, as he did for Andrew. Ok, maybe he did go a little bit overboard with his pranks before, but, that was it, was he really that bad?. He had completely stopped his pranks after a particularly nasty incident was blamed on him at the orphanage, they didn't trust him as it was, anything he did would be seen as pure malice. There was only one person in the world he could trust, and how he wished he was with him right now.

**Xxx**

**4 and a half years before.**

"Naru..."

"Naru wake up!" said a boy with sandy hair and green eyes shaking his shoulder.

"NO!" shouted Naruto in his waking disturbing two of his sleeping mates at the Whirpool orphanage. The boy by his side backed away a little but stayed put.

"Shut up idiot!", spat a dark haired boy putting his pillow over his head. The other one just gave a low growl, turned the other way and was fast asleep in no time.

All Naruto saw was his friend keiichi looming over him. "Kei... i'm sorry"

"Don't be, i was worried, you wouldn't stop moving and whining in your sleep". And the boy had to be saying the truth because he was all tangled on his bed sheets and had a thin layer of cold sweat on his skin.

"They are becoming more recurrent isn't it?, the nightmares i mean". Naruto looked at him with a sad look.

"You don't have to worry about me, it's nothing"

"Are you kidding?, that can't be nothing Naru, and besides, you worry about me just as much if not worse" said Kei as he tended a hand to Naruto. "Wanna go to the rooftop?"

Naruto smiled to his only friend and almost brother. keiichi and Naruto had hit it off very soon when the other boy had been brought into the orphanage, they were very close since then. "I could use some fresh air"

**Xxx**

There were very strict rules in this place. And breaking them, was one of the only things that could make Naruto smile truly, Keiichi knew that. They would pay hell if they were found but, it was always worth it. And besides, they were much more cautious now than ever. With years of living in the Whirlpool orphanage you get to know all the secret places where you could go unnoticed, and how to avoid the night shift guard that roamed the hallways.

The rooftops were their sanctuary. Whenever kei or Naru didn't find each other, they ought to know, the answer was the rooftop. And here they were, as many other nights when they couldn't sleep, or had too many things to think about. Sometimes they went there even during day if they wanted to avoid their shores or their classes. Naruto thought cloud watching to be a nice entertainment, he got a feeling of familiarity from it, only he wouldn't know where it came from.

"What's on your mind?" asked kei turning to look at Naruto.

Naruto fidgeted "Do you think we will get adopted soon?" said the blonde lying on his back looking at the stars.

"You're desperate to get outta here" mused Keiichi "Maybe" said kei don't sounding too eager. At that Naruto turned an incredulous look to Kei.

"Don't you want to leave this place... to have a family?"

"It's not that..."

"But it is awful in here Kei, how could you not want to leave?"

"You're talking for yourself Naruto" The boy immediately regretted what he said and looked at Naruto hoping everything was ok. "I'm sorry..."

"No... i understand. They treat you much better than... well, you know what i mean" said Naruto remembering the other boys abusive parents. "Its only me they don't like, it's like i have the... the pest, that thing" said Naruto recalling one of his teachers had mentioned it before.

Kei ignored the implicit mention of his progenitors and furrowed his brows. "That's strange too. They look at you weird, and it's like they avoid talking with you unless they want to order you around"

Naruto looked pained at the boy verbalizing his thoughts. He had been at the orphanage much longer than the other did, and the other boy knew little of what he had been through in the place. He found it hard to decide if it would have been better to live with parents like kei's or the life he had in the Whirlpool's orphanage. These people was all he knew, and they didn't give him the time of the day, and when they did, it was only to hurt him, he preferred to be left alone.

"I don't mind"

"Of course you do!" retorted keiichi skeptic and a little mad "If you didn't you wouldn't wish so badly to get away from me". said kei. But it seemed the words slipped out without his permission again as he stopped cold.

Naruto was looking at him wide eyed. that wasn't even close to his line of thought, he was thrown away "Kei, i...".

Keiichi felt trapped in that moment so he attempted to deviate the subject "Look Naruto... i don't like the way they treat you, but you are a tomb. I don't know why you could be so hated, or...or why in the world nobody adopts you when you are... well, when you are such a good person"

Naruto looked to be about to cry. "Im... im not kei" said Naruto downcast, but seeing Kei's indignation he spoke quickly "But that's not the point". Out of nowhere Keiichi was surprised to find Naruto looking down at him with his huge blue eyes.

"Get up" said Naruto coming to a standing position himself and offering a hand to Kei, who dusted his pants off and looked strangely at him. "I don't want them to separate us either. You're my brother, my real family, i want you to know that "

Kei felt as if he had a knot in his throat but managed to say in a whisper "You mean that?, the brother thing?..."

Naruto gave him a sunny smile and keiichi knew he was telling the truth, such a smile, he loved to see the boy smile, it would lighten up any place, and he knew it got to his soul, it made him want to smile too.

"Let's do this..." said Naruto extending his pinky finger to the other boy who took it immediately with his own. "I, the awesome Naruto, promise i'll be there for you always". Kei smiled at Naruto's antics, but he was used to him saying things like that so he say nothing about it.

"I keichi, promise ill always come to you when you need me, and when you don't because im such a good brother". Naruto's smile brightened if possible, and on a second thought he added, "This is kind of girly, maybe we should seal it with blood?" said Naruto biting into his thump finger and kei followed suit. The boys put their fingers together and said "I swear" at unison.

**Xxx**

Why?, did they hate him that much?, why put him under the night shift guard surveillance again. They didn't believe a thing he said, they even avoided him because they thought he was devilish and brought bad luck, Naruto this, Naruto that, 'It happened to me after you threatened me with that fork...' 'after you were here', 'after you looked at me' and the list went on and on, or so they said, because he remembered nothing.

Since his last prank, he had been assigned to clean the bathrooms every day after the activities had ended for the day. It took him until midnight to finish and his caretakers didn't care. Put the nigh guard to lookout for him and had him not go until he was finished. But what they didn't know, is that the man punished him in more than one way, it was never only mopping floors, arranging kitchens, painting walls or cleaning bathrooms for that matter. They never knew, because the dormitories were a place apart from the complex where normal activities happened at the orphanage every day, and he was left alone there, with him.

Right now he was moping the bathrooms floor, he needed to finish and fast before he came. This was the first night of punishment and stress was getting the better of him, but not only that, he felt goosebumps go through his body at the mere thought of being with the man. He feared him, and only recently, at his 12 years old, did he come to hate him as some people from Whirlpools university came to give them a sex ed class with the do's and dont's. What the man did to him was definitely a don't they said. He had an anxious attack and almost hurt himself seriously with his own pencil that day.

He tried to tell the staff when he was younger, the man touched him and did strange things to him, painful things, but they always put their fears and his reputation as a prankster first. It had started when he was 5 years old, he used to think it was part of his punishment for being boisterous and pranking the staff from the orphanage. Nobody listened, how could he know it was not normal?, terrible, but normal.

"Are you finished boy?" said a male voice. Naruto didn't even need to turn around, he knew his voice all too well. He instead put the last implement he used on its place "I am, may i go now?" he answered walking cautiously towards the entrance, he was ready to run if the man tried anything funny.

"Why the rush Naru-Chan" said the man leering at the blonde. "I thought we were good friends, besides, aren't you cleaning yourself up?"

"No.." said Naruto nervously, "I'm fine" he said, but to tell the truth, he was sweaty and needed to get a shower badly. He could care less though. He passed by the man without looking at him and making a run for the boys dormitories. The man didn't follow. But had the blonde looked back, he would have seen the predatory look forming into his eyes as he watched him disappear.

**Xxx**

Naruto awoke the next morning feeling itchy. He would have to endure it until the punishment was over, that meant he would only get to bath in the morning as all the kids had to. He yawned and rolled over only to find Keiichi looking at him curiously.

"What is it?" asked Naruto confused, did he have drool on his chin? thought the blonde trying to wipe it.

"How did it go?"

The blonde relaxed. He was only worrying over him as always. "Dirty" said the blond pinching the front of his t-shirt.

"I can see that, why didn't you take a bath?", Naruto sighed. "I was tired ok?" what else could he tell him, oh yes i didn't because i was afraid i was going to get raped... again. That would start his day with the right foot surely, he thought sarcastically, and by the way give Kei nightmares. He knew he had them.

Kei looked unsure but accepted Naruto's answer. "Well you look like shit"

Too blunt as always, "why? I feel like shit too" said Naruto giving him a funny grin and scratching his arms.

"Umm Naru, i was wondering... who is Sasuke?"

Naruto was at a loss for words. "Who?" he asked stopping what he was doing and sitting on the side of the bed staring at kei.

"Sasuke" repeated the green eyed boy "You have been mumbling that name in your sleep the whole week".

Naruto looked pensive for a moment, the name seemed strangely familiar, but he really didn't know that person. "Mmh, no, i know nobody with that name" he said resting importance to the matter, he must have been dreaming about something he saw on TV.

"Im going to the showers, i feel awful like this" said the blonde. Kei gave him a sympathetic look and followed him "Me too, before the others get up". But before the boys reached the door a woman with brown hair entered the room.

"Keiichi" she said with a smile not turning to look at Naruto at any moment "Good you're already awake, come with me, there's someone here to see you." with that she turned away and left the room without looking back to see the blonde boy glaring daggers at her.

Again, she didn't even look at him. How was he supposed to get adopted if she make it like he didn't exist?.

Keichi sighed. He hated seeing the staff do that to Naruto. He may seem angry but he knew it made him really sad.

"Good luck" said Naruto exiting the room leaving Kei in a frozen state

**Xxx**

Keiichi had been adopted, much against his will though. Naruto could only tell him that he would visit when he got adopted too, but Kei didn't look much better with that answer, he knew Naruto would hardly get adopted soon. With Naruto it was another story though, he knew Kei would, he was totally expecting it. The boy was what every parent must want, not like him. He was happy for Kei because he deserved a good family, the people who took him away from him looked decent enough.

Even if keiichi didn't want to be away from him, the blonde knew it was his chance. If ever Naruto got adopted, he didn't want the sand haired boy to stay stuck in the orphanage for him. On the other side he really missed him. Now he felt lonelier than before he met the other boy.

Naruto was taken away from his thoughts when he heard his name. He had been staring intently at his soup as if it held the answers to his every question. Great, his spacing out only made him seem weirder. He didn't turn to look at the other boys though, he started listening to what they thought was whispering.

"... and what did they said?"

"The teacher told him that she was frightened, she says Naruto's possessed by demons!, and that he should call father Dowson as soon as possible" explained a boy.

"That's creepy" said a girls voice "And he has been here even before Ana, she told me that when somebody wanted to adopt him, the secretary would always discourage them and tell them that he was terrible, maybe he's really possessed, he is so weird"

"That's the thing" said the first boy, "the teacher also said that she had heard growls and he was looking at her as if he wanted to kill her, that it gave her the creeps".

"Scary, i won't be able to sleep now, my beds too close to him, what if he kill us in our sleep?" said another boy.

"They have to do something, what did the director said?"

"He said she was not the only one to approach him with the matter. He called her paranoid, he thinks Naruto is pranking her as he always does. The teacher was furious" said the boy laughing not so quietly now.

Great, already filling in the new kids about him, he was doomed to be alone. Naruto had been mad at them, but then was surprised to hear about his teacher. He growled at people and wanted to kill them?. He pranked everyone that was true, but he didn't want them dead. The growling thing was news to him too. Kids always got away from him because of the staff gossip. They must really hate his pranking, but it was their own fault, they started the war long ago when they ignored him. Besides, if they hated him so much why didn't they give him into adoption and get rid of him?.

The soup definitely didn't hold his answers. Naruto turned to look angrily at the gossiping kids, they looked disturbed and left him to eat alone. That's better, he though, if they are scared for nothing then i might as well use it. The soup was nice.

**Xxx**

It was night again to Naruto's dread. He was about to finish with the boys shower when he heard the door close and the lights were turned off. He started panicking instantly, Tom, 'shit' it was him. His limbs felt frozen. 'Move Naruto, Move' he willed himself. He couldn't see anything beyond his palm so when he did move he started backing off to the wall.

"Who's there" he asked trying to conceal the panic in his voice. He didn't know why he did this, he knew all too well his answer but, maybe a ghost or something?, even that would be better.

"Tom, is it you?" he then heard light footsteps come closer to him. The showers near the entrance started coming to life one by one. What was he planning now? was he pranking Naruto now too?. He moved away from where he thought he was and looked to reach for the door, and he did, but it was closed under key. 'shit, shit, shit'.

"What do you want?" the blonde shouted still trying to cover his distress. All he heard was a male voice laughing at him.

"Tom, this is not funny!".

"It's not supposed to" was all he heard before the man threw him harshly to the floor and dragged him until he was under the closest running shower. He was soaked in seconds. But that was the last of his worries, the man got him pinned down to the floor and was stopping his movements with his legs. Naruto started trashing and throwing punches to the night guard but he was stronger and wouldn't budge.

"Let go of me you bastard!"

"Shut up!" shouted Tom at him and gave him a strong slap on the face with a heavy hand taping his mouth with the other. Naruto felt the sharp sting on his cheek. "One would have thought that after so many times you had learned to keep your trap shut, or maybe you want me to put it into good use?. Naruto's eyes got bigger at the memories that brought. No, he didn't want that again. But next thing he heard the all too familiar sound of metal coming loose and he knew what was coming. 'What are you doing!' shrieked Naruto muffled by the others hand. 'I don't want it!'

"Oh... you don't want to play with Tom anymore?, you didn't complain before Naru-chan..." Naruto trashed his body around with more urge this time. "Stop moving dammit" said Tom. The man suddenly changed the position of his legs to fit inside Naruto's legs and the boy took the opportunity to bite hard into his hand. The man groaned in pain and Naruto started dragging himself out his reach. But he had no such luck as the other acted quickly and got him by the pants jerking them from his body as Naruto clawed into the wet floor.

"Where do you think you are going?" said the man throwing all his weight over Naruto pinning him by the shoulders making him grimace.

"Stop it!, they'll know, they'll make you pay for it!" said Naruto in his desperation. It was his last resort, he couldn't fight the man, he was a big piece of human flesh and muscle.

The man cackled at that. "You and i know that's not true. They'll believe anything i say, they won't give a damn about you like always" said Tom ripping Naruto's boxers in one swift movement. "No let me go!". The man stopped right then only to caress Naruto's cheek in an adoring manner "You are cute indeed... so soft" said the man sounding breathless.

"Please, please don't..." said the blonde in defeat. He was not even shouting anymore. But it was too late. Next thing he knew the man had trusted inside of him without further notice. His little body screamed in pain as his nerves came alive like wild fire liking at him from inside out. But he couldn't shout nor cry, his eyes were tightly shut and his mouth was stuck into silent tale of pain. Soon enough the man was going inside of him at a relentless pace, like a savage dog in heat. This was worse than any other time, Tom hadn't prepared him, and was the most violent he had seen him. His insides were ripping, he was being torn apart... maybe he would die this time, and in that moment... he wished he would...

Everything was red now. And if anybody had been there, they would have heard a deep guttural sound emerging unforgivable into the darkness, and a little blonde boy staring into nothingness.

**Xxx**

It was a fine morning in Whirlpool city, it was raining as always, but a fine morning for the most part. The police cars, the ambulance, and all the booming noise in Whirlpools orphanage didn't fit into the picture. It was however justified giving that first thing in the morning the orphan boys had found a dead man lying on the floor of their bathroom. Nobody noticed one of the kids was missing until said kids caretaker had arrived to the complex.

Two hours later of searching on the vicinity and on every little place inside the orphanage, one of the men found a blond boy lying naked on the rooftop under the heavy rain. The incident became an issue for the national news, they covered to the dead body found in the showers with no apparent cause of dead, to the poor little kid found naked and with a mild case of hypothermia. The people from the orphanage saying worriedly how they would take proper care of the boy.

As weeks passed it became clear this was going to be a cold case. The man could have killed himself but they had not yet determined what did he do it with, his insides were a mess, they thought he had maybe drank caustic soda, the one used to unclog bathrooms, they didn't find any other culprit. As for the kid, he seemed to be amnesic to the incident, and seemed rather unresponsive anyway, he was send to Whirlpools psychiatric clinic. Soon it was old news as everything else.

All the hype gone, the mental clinic returned the blonde boy they had welcomed three weeks ago. He had been given anxiety pills and was also prescribed antidepressants as he was still silent as a tomb and didn't socialize. He needed rest and to get back into normal activities with other kids, as that would help him, there was nothing else they could do for him right now, a psychological therapist was to follow his case under the orphanage surveillance.

"It's been a week, he's still the same" said a black haired woman signaling at the huddled form over a bed near the wall. "He doesn't go to classes, he barely eats and sleeps the whole day"

"It is your duty to have him integrate into activities, what have you been slacking off for?" Said the orphanages director to his secretary. "And wasn't he prescribed antidepressants?"

"Mona is in charge of that, maybe he is just feigning"

"Are you dumb? does starving yourself and doing nothing but sleep seem like feigning to you?"

"I... i, you saw what happened with that man!, the boy was the last person to see him, and now he's dead!" retorted the woman outraged .

"Don't give me that, are you afraid of him?, you will be frightened when he dies from starvation and you are found negligent and thrown into a dirty cell"

"Why me? there's his caretaker" the woman spat.

"The both of you then, besides, who is in charge of her?, you supervise the staff remember? Do something useful or i will fire you" said the director with a sneer.

"But sir i...-"

"I'm going now, i need to solve Keichi's issue as soon as possible" and with that he was gone.

**Xxx**

They were forcing those damn pills down on him. He didn't need them, what could a pill do if he would still remember in the morning. He just wanted to be left alone as always, so now it turned out they paid attention to him when he didn't want it, screw it all, screw them all!. He wouldn't get up from bed, he knew he couldn't keep his facade on for them, he couldn't put up with their looks, and their disdain, he tried to convince himself he didn't need it everyday, but it hurt more than he wanted to admit.

Nobody cared if he was hurt, nobody knew Tom had touched him like that... and done those things to him. Internally his mind was a wreckage, he couldn't come to terms with the fact that he had allowed it to happen before because he didn't know it was not normal... and he didn't want to admit it ever felt any good when he didn't know it was a bad thing. But he didn't allow this thought anymore 'He hated Tom!, He hated Tom!, He hated... the man who was now dead... and still plagued his nightmares. He was so intent into his musings that didn't notice the boy watching him from the door as he huddled himself further into his own body.

"Naruto..." say a hushed voice. And then he felt as his bed gave away under someone's weight, and that someone fondled his head carefully. The blonde slowly opened his eyes to stare into Kei's silhouette contrasted by the only light on in the hallway. The boy looked sad.

"What are you doing here Keiichi?" asked Naruto with a raspy voice from lack of use. His eyes looked dead and that made Kei tremble, he never thought he would see Naruto like that. He knew there was something behind all those smiles and behavior, he saw through his mask, but he wasn't really prepared to see what was underneath. And now... something had happened to him, but nobody was certain of what it was.

"I saw you... on TV" he stopped watching Naruto's reaction, to his surprise the boys mouth broke into a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "So i am famous now" he affirmed without real joy but making an effort to joke for kei. "I can see why, i'm awesome"

On a normal day Kei would have laughed at Naruto's antics, but he knew it was false. The other was just putting up for him. However he offered Naruto a sincere smile. "Want to take dinner with me Naru?"

"Aren't your parents waiting for you?"

He got a funny look right then, he didn't really want to answer Naruto's question but he finally said "They gave me up"

"What?" the blonde got serious in one second half rising from the bed, "Why would they do that? Kei.. are you alright?"

Was Naruto crazy? he was worried about that when he had been through god knows what. "I kind of... pulled out the troublesome kind of kid, they said they were not really prepared to handle a boy like me, the director never told them i was like that, so the orphanage had to take me back".

"You mean, you pulled the Naruto kind of kid?" he asked with a hint or irony. His smile then disappeared to give way to a sad look. "You're an idiot you know that?"

"I am then. But i made a promise to you, and besides, you need somebody to take care of your reckless self" Naruto looked as if he was only remembering they had made a promise, he didn't think the other boy would want to keep it in the end. He still felt like shit, but he couldn't deny anything to Kei. If there was a person he would never want to see sad, much less because of him, that was Kei. Naruto smiled and took the other boys offered hand. It was always the other shedding light into him. Little did he know he was like the sun for the other kid.

**Xxx**

He hated to say it, but it turned out the pills worked after all, or something had changed in him because, now somehow he didn't feel a thing when the memories came to his head and he was content this way. He even asked for the damn sweets himself this days, yes sweets, because to his liking he took them like candy. He still slept most days because that stuff make his drowsy, but he didn't care as long as he didn't feel the same way ever again.

The nightmares had almost disappeared, and gave way to other dreams, strange dreams where he could do amazing stuff, and he felt good, he wanted to stay in there with his imaginary people, his imaginary friends who accompanied him at night, and best of all, his best friend...

There was this guy Sasuke that showed up more into his dreams than any other. He saw himself competing with the guy, but he knew it was friendly, and their fights only helped them both vent. What a strange feeling, if this world was anything like that, he was sure he would feel better doing just that. It was a shame to wake up and find he was still in the orphanage, but then there was Kei. When he was asleep he wished Kei was there with them, and when he was awake he missed Sasuke and had a devastating feeling that he would leave him behind. But here he was, and as long as he had his pills and kei by his side, he could do anything.

**Xxx**

He couldn't believe it. He was adopted.

Naruto was adopted two days later, and not only him but Keiichi too. Finally, something good happened to him. He didn't care about the reason of this sudden change in the orphanages secretaries heart, she had found a couple that adopted the both of them.

Kei didn't fit on his little body with all the joy he felt. He was really Naruto's brother now. Now the both of them had a family, and were still together. What could be better than that?. They greeted their new parents and behaved like little angels. The staff couldn't believe it.

Their parents were going to be a kind looking couple. Dad was a light brown haired, gray eyed man, and mom a brunette woman with gentle brown eyes.

"Hello there Naruto, Keiichi, i'm Andrew" said their father with a smile kneeling to their level and apparently approving of them because he immediately told the secretary they were taking them home right then.

"That's alright, you only need to sign some papers in the director's office and you can take them wherever you like" said the secretary looking ecstatic. Of course, she was getting rid of Naruto, thought the blonde, why wouldn't she be happy?.

"No problem, i follow you" said the man.

This had to be the real start of his life, it was finally smiling at him...

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**A/N:** Naruto's confusion is not a whim of mine, this stuff really happens. The damage is done either way.

I hope you enjoyed your reading, bye bye¨*


	2. A family for the fox

**A/N:** Hallo. Just so you know, Kei is just a character i developed to be the means to reach a goal in the story, as much as i like him, this is finally SasuNaru :3¨*, we're getting there i promise.

* * *

**Chapter II. **_**A family for the fox.**_

* * *

Keiichi had never seen Naruto behave so well. It was amazing to see the 180 degrees change in him. This was perfect, Andrew and Lana were very kind to him and Naru, and the blonde seemed to be happy with having a family at least, he even called them both mom and dad and encouraged him to do so. It was little harder for him since he had the memories from his real parents burned into his conscience and had been adopted once. But he would humor Naruto, it made things feel more family like.

Their new parents had taken them to the movies, Naruto couldn't stop saying how cool that was. Kei on his side had already been around a little bit. But the other boy was amazed by almost everything. The people from the orphanage had never took him out to do anything entertaining or funny, it was always cultural-educational stuff when they did allowed him to go.

Walking on the mall he stopped every two meters and Kei couldn't help but chuckling.

"What are you laughing of?" asked Naruto with his eyes reduced to thin lines.

"Naru, that's a fountain, it's called the siren of glory" said Kei instead of arguing with the blonde. He became distracted easily and was already looking it from every side with hyperactive energy, it was huge.

"I like it-"Naruto was saying when his eyes caught a place with thousands of lights and crawling with children.

"What is THAT?" said the blonde awestruck.

"You can play arcade games in there" answered Andrew for Keiichi. "You want to give it a try?" said the man ruffling Naruto's hair with a smile.

They spent the rest of the day destroying monsters and playing pump it up. Naruto was surprisingly good, who would have thought he had a talent for that.

Xxx

The blonde was bursting with energy, and now that he had stopped directing it towards his pranks he was happy to help Lana in anything she wanted to do. Cooking, cleaning, everything, it seemed to draw Andrews attention as well. Kei on his side was much less accustomed to do shores as he had lived with well to do families before. He was amazed at how quick the blond did everything and that he knew how to do it from starters. He was glad that in the end the blonde still had energy to go play outside, he was a little bit bored.

Naruto couldn't believe his life now. The bad looks had stopped, he wasn't ignored, he was even rewarded with a 'thank you' and congratulated if necessary. No adult had ever before directed those words to him, he felt all warm inside but he would not say it. That same afternoon Andrew had called him to give him an awesome mission, or that's what he thought. The man said it was very important, and that only he could do it. It would help their little family grow, and he would be very happy with Naruto.

The azure eyed boy couldn't contain his ecstatic expression. A mission only he could do?. He felt important for the first time in his short life, he would impress his father for sure. Kei was taking his usual nap when Andrew took him out. He was given three candy packages and left on the street with the promise that he would pick him up later, all he had to do was sell the candy to the people that came when he was standing there. It was a piece of cake.

The man had picked him up as he had promised. When they went home the boy gave him the money. Andrew took the money from his hands almost too quickly and started counting it. Naruto thought it was lots of money, dad had to be happy because they were going to be able to buy all kind of awesome stuff and eat fancy things as Lana used to say sometimes. To his surprise Andrew was so happy he kissed him on the forehead and gave him a tight hug. The man didn't see Naruto's reaction to that but if he had, he would have seen the blonde widen his eyes as he froze.

A hug. Naruto was shocked to find that this was the first time somebody hugged him like this, Naruto had a dad, and his dad wanted him enough to hug him. His eyes stung with tears welling into them. When the other man separated the blonde from him he stopped his happy rant. "Are you ok there?"

"Ye...yess" He answered and dedicated a sunny grin to his father wiping his tears. "Im just happy thats all" said Naruto. But he felt so exposed he ran away to his room. For the man however things were resulting just as he had planned them. This boy was all he could have asked for, he needed love badly and was thus easy to manipulate. He himself needed the boys help, so it was a win win situation, as long as the kid cooperated he would have his 'love'. The other boy was a problem though, he didn't seem to trust him as much as Naruto and was always behind the other boy. The only reason he still kept him was that the state paid him for having the both kids.

Xxx

It had been 6 months since Naruto was disappearing every afternoon. And 4 since he had convinced Andrew to let them go to the school of the neighborhood. He had hoped it would bring the blonde to his senses again, but it hardly did, if anything, he seemed much more avid to demonstrate he was good at something to his dad.

Kei had been worried since the very first day Naruto wasn't there when he got up from his nap, but the blonde would only say he was helping his dad with work. Kei woul then ask why couldn't he help him as well, but Naruto refused to keep talking about the issue and if pushed he became fed up with Kei and stopped talking to him altogether.

Months passed and passed and he couldn't take it anymore, he needed to know what was up with the blonde. On Naruto's 14th birthday Lana prepared a little fest for the 4 of them, Andrew was in a good mood and he took the chance to talk with him when the other boy wasn't looking. He told him he wanted to help with whatever it was his brother was doing, that it would be his gift and besides, he felt a little bit left out even if that was far from true. Naruto was needy and he knew it, it even hurt to accept the blonde was putting this people over their friendship, and he wasn't going to be taking that anymore.

"Dad, are we leaving?" asked Naruto getting into Andrews car. The man got onto the driver's seat, turned on the music and got himself comfortable. "Dad?" asked Naruto again, why aren't we going already?". And then the man said what felt like treason to him "Your brother is coming this time". Just then the other boy jumped into the back seat and Naruto turned to stare at him stunned. The other gave him an unreadable look and Naruto seemed to be holding a great internal fight at the moment. The whole way to their destination was silent.

"It's ok already. Say something!" said Naruto exploding stressed to his brother. He knew this day was coming sooner or later, but he hadn't even thought about what he'd do when it happened.

"What do you want me to say?, do you want me to shout at you for not trusting me enough to tell me something like this?"

Naruto looked hurt, but knew it was irrational to be mad when it was really the other boy who had a real reason to be mad at him. It was true, he hadn't trusted Kei because... he hadn't trust him because he was afraid Andrew would stop loving him. It was stupid he knew, but he needed his dad, he needed Lana, and he needed... Kei. He had been so selfish...

Kei was looking at the blondes face as realization hit him, and he himself now looked the saddest Naruto had seen him since they were at the orphanage. "Im, im..."

"Dont be sorry" said Kei looking at him in the eye. "Just, don't do this again ok?... i care about you"

"Im so stupid, so so stupid" said Naruto putting his head on his hands, he didn't have the face to look at the other boy anymore. "I don't deserve you Kei" whispered Naruto. And the blonde didn't expect the other boy to correct him. And he didn't. He knew he deserved it as it came. The other boy had all the right to break their promise if he wanted. But he didn't.

Xxx

Something wasn't right with this. Everything, from the places Andrew dropped them in, to the quantity of money they received for 'candy', was off. Even the people who bought them seemed, weird. He was thinking of this when Naruto was giving away one of the last candy for the day. And as the blonde was looking at the guy disappear Kei had taken the very last candy package in the box and opened it.

"What are you doing!?" exclaimed Naruto alarmed. "Kei, Dad said we should not open th-" But Naruto didn't finish his sentence because when he looked at the other boy he was really shaken up.

"Kei?, what is it?" said Naruto worried now about his brother. "Naruto, this is... this thing, i've seen it before, my... my dad, he had this stuff at home" The boy seemed to be remembering bad times as he held the item but looked at Naruto nonetheless and told him with trembling voice. "Naruto this are drugs... this is cocaine...". And who knew what was in the other multicolored packages.

"Drugs?, as in... what those guys at the orphanage said people took to feel better, but... killed them?". So the blonde actually put attention to their lessons back then, that was new. Kei could only nod to him.

Xxx

Naruto couldn't believe what he learned on that dreadful day. Not only had he discovered a horrible truth about his and Kei's dad, but what he was the most disturbed of, was that almost since the very start of his dad's assignment, he had walked the streets and found people lying around in the lanes or the alleys. He had once asked what was wrong with them, and was told they were mere junkies, there was no helping them because they would die soon anyway. But he hadn't pay any heed to that, he hide food into his bag and was always careful to give it to them when his dad left. So now it turned out... he himself, was helping people end up that way, he was killing them.

Kei begged Naruto to not confront Andrew as they didn't know how he was going to react. He didn't trust Naruto just yet when it came to the man, because he had been so attached to him all those months, he wouldn't question any of his intentions. Naruto however felt like he was dying inside, he didn't want to keep selling the stuff his dad gave him and Kei, he didn't want the man to hate him, and at the same time, his prescription for antidepressants had expired, the clinic wasn't giving them anymore. His nightmares were coming back, and most importantly, his feelings were also coming back.

Keiichi was so worried he couldn't sleep. He sported huge dark circles under his eyes. Naruto was getting worse, and he couldn't do a thing. He felt now tremendously guilty, he thought maybe he should have kept the truth to himself as Naruto was still dealing with who knows what, because even that, he still didn't know, and he didn't want to press the matter.

Naruto would still receive Andrews display of affection, and then would cry hushing his sobs on his pillow and make like nothing happened. Kei would hold him when it became too bad sometimes, but Naruto was now rejecting him saying he didn't have to go thought that with him. He asked his mother to talk Andrew into giving him a room for himself, and he did. Naruto was now sleeping into a little storage room arranged so he could use it.

As days passed one day suddenly he was back to being his old self. It was as if, nothing had ever happened. He looked cheery and started dragging Kei to go play outside again and challenged him. He was back to normal in anybody's eyes except Kei's. 'So he's back to his mask, he smiles a lot, but, it never reaches his eyes anymore'. Kei though this was better than a permanently sad Naruto. He knew the other boy would find the way of getting over his issues, he always did, what with the treatment he got in the orphanage? and he still had room to let Andrew and Lana in.

He on his side just couldn't, but he wasn't going to deny he and Naruto needed them or they would end up back at the orphanage or roaming the streets. There was only one thing, the drug dealing. Nothing good could come from that, see how his family ended up, they are now dead. And he should stop his musings because the teacher was giving him a stern look. He straightened and was relieved when the bell rang signaling the start of lunch period. He caught Naruto outside leaning against the wall looking dazed, they didn't cross a word until they had reached the cafeteria and were in line to get their food.

"You are deadly quiet today" said Naruto as he got his tray full and got off to the side waiting for Kei.

"Look who's talking" said the sand haired boy going to stand by the blonde. "It's more like i didn't want to disturb you. Everything alright?"

The blonde groaned at that. "My head hurts, that's all".

"That explains your mood Mr. Grumpy" Naruto said nothing, and Kei was getting back to his own thoughts when the boy walking in front of him went crashing down to the floor spilling the contents of his tray. Everybody in the vicinity bursted out laughing. Kei didn't lose a breath and went to help Naruto but the boy didn't even notice him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" exclaimed the azure eyed boy looking to the offending appendage of the smirking boy it was attached to.

Said boy guffawed in response "Don't get your panties in a bunch emo boy, are you going to cry?" he finished with a derisive tone to it and imitating a crying baby for the public. What happened next Kei would have never imagined it in a million years. The blonde stood up so quickly Kei was left blinking in surprise, and throwed himself at the other boy dragging him down onto the floor and punching him for all he was worth.

"NARUTO STOP!, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Kei called out to him in the middle of the commotion trying to grab him but he wouldn't budge. The cafeteria was a mess of people screaming and others cheering as they gathered around the two boys.

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!" They were cheering. But there was really no fight, the blonde was using the offending boy as a punching bag, he seemed to be in a trance of rage and Kei could almost see it seeping out from his brother, he hated to admit it but he wasn't able to stop it... he felt killing intent and a goosebump went through his body in fright. What was wrong with him?, this is his brother he's talking about... Kei came down to his senses by pure will and took Naruto by the arms to restrain him with all the strength he could gather. The blonde was shorter than him and had never been this strong, but he didn't have much time to think about it as the guards approached them and took his place restraining Naruto.

His eyes looked glazed and he saw it now. The look in Naruto's eyes was no more of rage, but of terror. "NO YOU WONT!" he shouted repeatedly clawing at the guards "LET ME GO!" he said. As the teachers got all the people outside the cafeteria Kei was the only student left there standing beside the boy Naruto had just beaten. Teachers came to the boys help and were waiting for the paramedics.

"Someone do something about that kid for god's sake!" Shouted the woman holding the bleeding boy on the floor signaling towards the blonde boy who was still trashing and screaming nonsense. Kei got up and stood in front of the boy cupping his face in his hands but the other boy's eyes were unseeing.

"Naruto" he said firm "Naruto it's me, its Kei, your brother, please..." begged Kei hitting his cheeks lightly with his palms, but Naruto didn't look like he heard a thing. Next thing everybody was struck looking at the sand haired boy who had just slapped his brother hard on the face. There was silence, the blonde had stopped. "Who are you...?" he whispered to no one in particular.

Kei looked bewildered to the people around him and retracted his hand to his side. "Naruto, i'm sorry Naru, can you hear me?". But the younger boy didnt heard him at all as he had passed out into the guards arms.

Xxx

Whispering. There was whispering everywhere, he could barely hear his own thoughts in between the mess. He found himself lying down in the darkness. He couldn't remember what he had been doing before. 'What's this place?' It's so dark. The whispers were slowly receding and he heard a low growl followed by a deep guttural voice "At least". He could feel it, it was coming closer, but where from he didn't know, it was all over the place.

"This is your mind" began the voice. "Now listen up Naruto" demanded the voice slowly.

"Who are you...?" he whispered.

The voice gave a throaty chuckle. "I live inside of you". Suddenly he could see it, a gigantic red fox emerged from the shadows becoming his only light in the darkness. Naruto gaped at the sight. "I have a... i have a, huge, red fur ball inside of me?" he stuttered. The red fox scowled at the blonde and grumbled "I can't believe we have to go over this again".

'Again' he thought, he had never seen anything like him. "Something is seriously wrong with me if you're part of my imagination, the others are ok but you are..." "what are you, a fox? why are you so big?"

Said fox popped a vein in his head. "That's irrelevant. But yes, i am the great demon fox Kyuubi and am very real. Don't you ever wonder why people fears you out of the blue? you don't really believe it's because you are so terrifying, do you?"

Well yes he did, he had always thought there was something wrong with him. He used to think about it all the time. "Or why do they say i growl at them and want to kill them?, back at the orphanage..." Naruto grimaced at the memories. "What does this have to do with-" in that moment the blonde turned to see the fox in a new light staring with eyes wide open.

"You took your time" taunted the fox amused.

"You mean it has never been me but... it's just not possible" he said bewildered. "Even if that was true then it means that-" "It means that you made them hate me..." he ended with bitternes.

The fox lied down leaning his head on his paws giving him a stern look. "They are afraid of what they can't comprehend. I can't really conceal my presence within you, they feel it, and they are afraid of it."

The blonde looked very shaken up. How could something like this be real?. The fox could easily be something he made up, like Sasuke. But his whole life he had been looking for answers, and this didn't seem as crazy when you took everything into account. Maybe this was only a onetime thing, if so, he decided he should play along with the vision then...

Naruto tried to compose himself and finally asked "Why are you inside of me?". He was truly curious what his mind would come up with, but Kyuubi was apparently distracted by something he couldn't hear.

"That will have to be a story for another time Gaki". The blonde almost instantly knew what the fox meant, he felt as if he was being pulled by an unseen force.

"There's one more thing" Kyuubi noted "Don't take nothing from them"

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll know..."

* * *

A/N: I would love to read your comments, constructive criticism, or requests, whatever is on your mind, thank you. byebye ¨*=)


	3. Back to the start

**A/N: **Hey there you!. I see you guys are excited to know what's going on with Sasuke, next chapter you'll know=). For now i hope you keep reading and supporting the story. It is very meaningful for me, thank you.

Now as a parenthesis i would like to share with you why the title is Blood Bonds. I had this name in mind thinking of the 'genetic memory'. If you aren't familiarized with the term, it's about those things(spontaneous abilities, treats in personality) innate to our bodies so much that we don't know where they came from because we never learned them. And if you go deeper into mysticism, it has directly to do with the memory of the soul. Those things we carry into the next life whether we want it or not, and even if we don't remember it...

* * *

_**Chapter III. Back to the start**_

* * *

Naruto woke up to light green and the sound of steps into the distance. He felt drowsy but it was slowly dimming, and his numb fingers were coming to his senses with a prickling sensation. When he felt more conscious and he could focus his eyes, he took the time to observe the place in detail. He knew this place, it was... the mental clinic?. 'Not again' was the last thing he thought before he heard two voices coming near by the hallway and opened the door to his room.

"So you're awake" Said a man looking into Naruto's chart and reading out loud. "You've been here before. Catatonic episode, light amnesia, depression, isolation..." The man continued reading the chart in silence as a the woman that came with him was leaning against the doorframe, he recognized her as one of his teachers at school.

"Miss, why am i here?" asked Naruto shifting to a sitting position and noticing the discomfort in his hand he brought it to his eye level, it was bandaged over his knuckles. When he turned to see the woman again she had a curious look in her eyes.

"Don't you remember?" she said creasing an eyebrow. Naruto only shook his head to that. But before she could say anything else the man looked up from the sheets he was reading and asked him. "What's the last thing you can remember?"

Naruto frowned. When he tried to remember his head hurt slightly. But last he recalled he was at school in a boring math class trying to ignore a coming headache, then he saw Kei and they went to the cafeteria, and then, it was all blank. "I went to the cafeteria with my brother Kei but..." he said trying to fill the empty space. "I can't remember anything else... though my head was hurting badly".

The man jotted that down into the chart. "Lady" he referred to the teacher, "please, could you wait outside?"

"Of course. I'll be waiting for his parents" She nodded once to the doctor and Naruto and left closing the door behind.

"Now. You have to be very honest with me Naruto. What people describes happened, points toward a serious mental illness, and i need to discard other options first. If you lie to me it will not be on your behalf. We want to help you get through this"

Naruto was left open mouthed. Serious mental illness?, what have people been saying about him?. Why couldn't he remember a thing?.

"Could you at least tell me first why am i here this time?" said the blond in a flutter.

"Well, we're touching that topic anyway" he said dragging a chair to the side of his bed and putting his right foot over his left leg. "You hit one of your classmates at school, and left him in a pretty bad state, but that's not the reason you're here?."

'He hit a... what?, wait..., he was at school with Kei and... ' Naruto put his hand on his forehead when he felt the same pain as before, but this time something flashed into his mind... he fell at school, and there was someone taunting him, then he stood up and... he remember being really mad... an then what?, he pummeled the other boy into the ground it seems.

"Why can't i remember? Did he hit me on the head or something?" asked the blonde touching it at the mention.

"You weren't injured and seems like you can pack a punch" said the man smiling. "So... you're amnesic again. What else tell me, you said you had a headache, any other peculiarity?"

He didn't know if he should tell him, the voices, all those whispers , the imaginary people he dreamed of before, he had been seeing them lately... out of his head. But the man would say he's crazy. And what if he was?, maybe he should tell him and, could he be cured? he didn't know how those things worked themselves out. "I, well, let's say... i had a headache and i wouldn't stop hearing this hushed voices. Since two days ago i've also been seeing people i dream about sometimes, like they are here, just like you and me."

Naruto looked at him expectantly, the man didn't look fazed but gave the blonde a serious gaze "Is that so?, ok. Have you had any other episode where you didn't remember what you've done in your daily life? blank spaces?"

Blank spaces huh?. That's his whole life. "Back at the orphanage people used to tell me i've done things i didn't remember doing" said the blonde thoughtful. Could they have been saying the truth? maybe he was just sick...

The man was frowning now as he wrote something down on the chart and raised his gaze to him. "Well then Naruto. The progression of your symptoms since you came here last time, it talks about a psychotic disorder, we call it schizophrenia. The hallucinations, i mean, the things you hear and see, are of course not really there, they are produced by a chemical imbalance in your brain. Also, when you have a psychotic episode, yes that's how we call them" cleared the man at Naruto's confused look "Anyway, when you get a really bad episode sometimes you will not remember what happened, just like this time"

Naruto couldn't believe his ears. This was big. So it meant all the hate, the fear and the hell he lived back at the orphanage, was all because he was mentally sick?. He didn't like being sick, but deep down, he felt relieved the things they blamed him for had an explanation aside from 'the boy's possessed'. Finally! answers!. Now... what about the things the fox said?. He said he was inside of him well... it must have something to do with the sickness too.

"Then i hit that guy because i had an episode?"

"Ahm, well, you must have wanted to hit him, but it somehow triggered a bad psychotic episode. Being out of reality you were not reacting to your surroundings anymore, and thus the boy you hit became whatever you were seeing or fighting against in your mind"

Naruto looked puzzled "Don't feel bad, this things happen when you're sick and unattended. Gladly Naruto, we can control it" ended the man . "There's a medicine we can give you, but you have to be very constant and precise in taking it. If you don't, you may have another episode just like this. I don't think you want that do you?". Naruto shook his head, he wanted it to stop, he wanted to feel good, he wanted to stop fearing everybody will hate him. Just then someone knocked on the door.

"Come in" said the man. It was his parents. Naruto became a little uneasy. What would Andrew say?, he wouldn't hate him would he?. Naruto gave himself a mental slap, idiot, you have to stop thinking people will hate you!. From now on, he would take his medicines and everything would be alright.

"Hello Mr..."

"Andrew, and this is my wife Lana. We are Naruto's parents " he explained. "What is wrong with our son?"

"Well firstly, i'm doctor Graham" he said getting up and shaking Andrews hand. "I am the main psychiatrist in here. Now please let's move into my office" he said guiding them to the door. His parents went out into the hallway and as the doctor was leaving he turned back to Naruto and told him to follow them and stay in the waiting room. Why couldn't they talk in front of him?.

Xxx

When they left the clinic, Andrew was livid. Naruto was rethinking seriously his musings from before, maybe Andrew would hate him after all, but now, because he was sick. Now he knew Naruto was a defective child. He felt awful. And the fact that they didn't say a word the whole way home made things even worst. When they finally arrived his dad pushed him through the door and dragged him into his office stumbling and dropping him to the floor.

"Andrew-" started Lana worried but the man interrupted her "What the fuck are we supposed to do with a child like this!?, they didn't say anything about him being sick. He will consume more than he gains and i've got big debts to pay"

"Honey, i'll look for a job too..."But she stopped dead when the man glared ad her. "YOU DO NOT WORK UNDERSTAND!, NO WIFE OF MINE WILL WORK!"

She took a step back in fear but collecting all her courage she started again "But Andrew, i can help our situation, you don't have to do all the work yours-", but she didn't get to finish because the man advanced towards her and gave her a heavy backslap. "What part of you won't work don't you get!?"

"And you..." he said turning to Naruto leaving his wife covering her burning cheek. The man looked at him with contempt as he got closer to him."Do you like to hit people?" he asked raising Naruto by the front of his shirt and slamming him back onto the floor giving him next a hard kick into his stomach. The blonde gasped at the loss of air and doubled up in pain. But the man didn't stop at that, "I ASKED YOU, DO YOU, LIKE, HITTIG, PEOPLE?" he shouted raising Naruto again. "N-no" blurted out the azure eyed boy as he could when the air was back into his lungs. "Wrong answer!" said the man punching him straight on the face and sending him stumbling back into the wall.

"Did you know we had to pay for your classmates hospitalization? did you know how shameful it was for me to put up with his parents and your teachers?"

"I... i'm sorry, i didn't meant to i swear" stuttered the pained blonde.

"It doesn't matter if you meant it or not. You did it, and not only that, now it turns out you are sick" he said looking down at the stunned blonde... "I'm calling to the orphanage, i didn't sign up to look after a child like you"

The blondes eyes got bigger in fear. "No, dad please, don't... "

"Do you have any idea, just how expensive is the treatment for your illness?"

Naruto shook his head at the comment. And the man got closer lowering himself to Naruto's level and then said slowly. "I can't have you, i will not be paying for all your medicines, checkups, therapy and whatnot for you not go nuts as you did on your school cafeteria. And if i don't, i will have no use for you when you get worse. Before it was the orphanage providing you of those antidepressants you took, but now is all on me".|

Naruto looked up at him bewildered. "Please don't send me back..." he said with a trembling lip "I can work double with the candy" he stuttered "I could look for another job too... i'll do whatever you want me to do just... let me stay". He didn't want to lose his family, he didn't want to go back to the hell that was the orphanage.

If it was about the money, he could try and pay for his medicines and bring more money to his dad. He hated selling those drugs but he knew now his dad had debts and it was the only way he could stay with his family. On the other side what Andrew had just done to him, he thought he deserved it, it was also his fault he had hit Lana and he felt terrible for it, the man was always so nice to the three of them. As he was thinking this he saw something move by the corner of his eye. It was Keiichi, he looked frozen into the stairs.

When the man saw the other kid he relaxed his features. "Oh Keiichi, me and your brother were just talking, but we're finished. Please wait for us in the kitchen, your mother must have dinner ready"

The boy looked shaken. "C'mon , go" hurried him the man and Kei finally obeyed. When the boy was gone he turned back to Naruto looking at him straight in the eye and told him "I'll think about it. Now go clean yourself, you don't want to disturb your brother do you?" and with that he left to catch up with the other boy.

Naruto almost felt relieved. Andrew said he would think about it, there was hope and besides, he wouldn't say that if he didn't love him would he?.

Xxx

Kei was worried sick when he saw Naruto's bruises, and hearing Andrew threaten to send the blond back into the orphanage. That would destroy him, and Kei didn't want to be in this place anyway if Naruto wasn't there. The blond told him Andrew hit him as a punishment for what he did to that guy at school. Kei didn't think it was a good sign. When his own dad had started to hit him, it had gone really bad. But Naruto was convinced this was different, he deserved it after all.

On the other hand. the blond had filled him in about his illness. Kei also thought that it fit with everything the azure eyed boy had gone through at the orphanage. And felt bad that the stupid staff didn't care enough to give him a chance. But that was in the past. Right now the boy was hanging into this family with all he had, and his sickness was threatening to destroy everything.

The blonde told Kei he would get another job, and Kei offered to work also but Naruto was very serious about it. He didn't want Kei to work for something that had nothing to do with him. He would be paying for his medication and if he insisted, it would only make him feel awful. Kei didn't want that. So to his chagrin he had to let it slide this time. All he could do was sit and watch, and he hated it.

Xxx

When Andrew called him into his office the next morning Naruto felt like his soul would escape him through his mouth. He was so flustered he almost tripped on the stairs, but thankfully regained his balance in the last moment and taking a deep breath he reached for the door and knocked softly.

When he was let in the first thing he did was observing Andrew's expression carefully. He didn't look mad, that was a huge relieve. He was thoughtful and was reclined over his desk with his hand on his chin. Naruto was just standing there unmoving afraid that suddenly the man would change his mind.

"What are you doing?, come have a seat" he said raising an eyebrow and showing him the chair right in front of him with his extended hand. The blonde wasn't letting go of his nervousness just yet, anything could happen, and he hoped the man had not decided to give him up.

"Dad...?" started Naruto springing his adoptive fathers attention. The man finally sighed coming to a decision. He had seemed to be struggling with something.

When Andrew started into the drug business, it was heaven, a lot of money was moved every day. But with time, he accumulated so many debts with many different people he had to constantly worry about his life. That's when it occurred to him the idea of adopting, the state gave good money for having the kids every month, and as a plus, he could use the children to sell his drugs. Kids were the best option for the job as they raised less suspicion.

When he first met Naruto, he had liked him on sigh. He was very eye catching, bright blonde hair, big blue eyes, cute face. And the other boy wasn't left behind. But he hadn't cared about that at the time. However now that the blonde had become a burden, the only way he could have him was to produce more money. And if the kid wanted to stay so badly, he would have to do it himself. There was something he could do to be worth all the trouble...

"You can stay" replied Andrew. The other boy would have to be left out once again, he didn't trust him and wasn't as easy to manipulate as the blonde. Who knew what he would do with that information. It was better to keep it a secret.

Naruto let out the breath he had been holding. His eyes got bigger if possible drawing an ecstatic smile into his face. "Really!?" he exclaimed happy. He got up so quickly Andrew didn't see it coming, Naruto jumped into his lap and hugged him so hard he almost fell from the chair.

"That's ok kiddo" said the man taking Naruto away from him. "There's just one condition"

Naruto looked at him expectant. "What is it?"

"You have to do this alone, it would be unfair to have your brother working too" the man said. Naruto couldn't agree more, Andrew had read his thoughts. "But if you tell Keiichi about your new job, you will screw it all up and i will have to send you back to the orphanage, understand?" he demanded with a severe look.

Naruto didn't even have to think about it, "Yes dad, i promise". He had told Kei that he was going to work for his medicines, so he was basically not lying to him completely right?. As Naruto was thinking of this Andrew got up to retrieve his camera. Naruto looked at him curiously.

"Now, let's take some pictures so you can apply for the job" said the man smiling to him and the blonde got excited all over again. He would do his best, he would not disappoint his dad.

Xxx

Naruto hadn't gone to school and was really anxious to know if he would be accepted into the job his dad wanted for him. But he didn't have to wait long because not three hours after his dad mailed his picture he received a call. He was told to bring the blonde to the place at 10:00 pm. When the time finally came he said goodbye to Kei who was wondering why his job was so late, and was watching him with a troubled look from the window in his room on the second floor as he got into the car with Andrew. But that wouldn't stop him, he also thought it weird they had made them go so late but, he had to do this. When they finally reached the place Andrew was pressured to go out of the car and rang the bell of the huge house.

"Who is it?" Answered a deep male voice.

"It's Andrew Hideki"

"Come in, she is waiting for you" announced the man before a loud 'beep' sound was heard signaling the door was open. Naruto had never in his life been to a house like this, it was so big he had only seen them before in movies portraying rich people. The man that had received them signaled for them to enter and they found themselves into an spacious hall covered in dark red wine velvet curtains. He wore his head shaved and was dressed in a black suit. Next thing he told them to follow him through a door to their right and into an office. And that's when he met his soon to be boss, a voluptuous brunette who Andrew called 'Miss Nadine'. The woman enjoyed of a very finely furnished room that had a weird window with panoramic view into the hall, but it was only a one way view. Naruto thought it was really cool.

She wouldn't take her eyes away from Naruto. The blonde seemed to pull her in. "That picture doesn't make him justice at all" she said.

"I told you so" said Andrew smirking. "This is my adoptive son Naruto, he is very eager to get working"

"And why is that Naruto?" Nadine asked curious to the blonde. But Andrew beat him in answering. "He's sick, and we need money to pay for his medication".

The woman creased an eyebrow "He doesn't look sick, if anything he seems to shine on his own". The blonde looked at her openmouthed at the comment. She was complimenting him? HIM? what world was this?.

"He's got hallucinations, that kind of thing" explained the man.

"Does he now?. That's a serious thing little boy" she said turning to Naruto and lowering herself to his level. "Are you lying Andrew? he looks like his is very much in his right mind. Shouldn't he be spacing out and saying nonsense?".

Andrew sighed exasperated. "That is not his case, i can't explain it to you in detail because i don't understand it that well myself but i assure you, he is functional. He just needs to take his medicines so he doesn't have those episodes of his."

"I see. I'm only curious as to why you would bring your boy to me but, i'll let it pass because i really want him." she said looking at the blonde with a critical eye.

"I'll leave him to you Nadine. Just remember what i told you on the phone"

"Aw, do you mistrust me that much?" she said pouting.

Andrew snorted. "It doesn't matter. You owe me, so, will you do it? i don't want any trouble"

Her expression changed drastically into a serious demeanor. "This is business. And it's true, i owe you, and a debt is a debt. If it wasn't for that, there's much more i would like to have him do". Naruto felt as if he wasn't there with them anymore, they were ignoring him. What were they talking about?. Andrew hadn't told him what was it he had to do yet. By the time he got into their conversation again, his father was saying goodbye to him and told him he would stay the night.

"Why?" asked the blonde a little bit discouraged, "What am i going to do anyway?. Andrew only had to look at him once before the blonde regretted saying that.

"Because you want to stay" answered his dad as a matter of fact. And that was all he said before he kissed the woman's hand and followed the man from before outside.

Xxx

Nadine had ordered a maid to bring a cookie tray and a soda for the blonde. He was seated right in front of her desk as the brunnete had gone out and told him to not move. While he was waiting he got specially interested in the one way window, the more time it passed the more crowded the place got. There were men and women seated into the comfy and elegant looking couches and loveseats. The maids were running around bringing them beverages and snacks.

Naruto was eating one more cookie when he saw a woman scrambling into a man's lap who put his hands over her buttocks. The man apparently had invited her to drink from his cup because she took it from his hand and gave it sip. '¿What is going on?'. But when he thought it couldn't go any weirder a woman stood up dragging a young man with red hair from a chain.

"Close your mouth blondie" said Nadine entering to the office. "Are you entertained?"

Naruto blinked twice and turned to look at her. "What are these people doing here?, this all looks like a movie to me"

The woman laughed sonorously at the blondes remarks. "Then it might be fun for you. And i hope it is because that's what you'll be doing soon cutie"

"Don't call me that" demanded Naruto frowning. But he let go of it all too quickly to a stunned expression as he watched more."What exactly i'll be doing here?

"What you are witnessing its part of your job." began the woman observing attentive outside the window. "This people comes here to relax, drink, have a nice chat and if required, some more fun into our rooms." she said smiling to herself.

"Fun? really?" Now Naruto was really interested. This might be good then but, "What's with the chaining stuff and all the touching and kissing?" he said truly curious. 'it was so intimate, he didn't know this kind of job existed. It reminded him of Tom... no. He shouldn't think about that, he was coping better after all, well, as better as he could with his hallucinations'.

Was this boy for real?, did he know nothing about sex? so innocent, she thought with a funny expression on her face. She decided to humor him. "That's all part of the game. If you play along you will have the more fun you've had in your life."

"So it's all games... this is my job... to have fun?" said Naruto with a bright look. She couldn't believe he bought that but, in a way, yes, it was all about the fun. How she would love to have him partake in different activities than what she agreed with Andrew. Maybe later on...

"Exactly" she replied. "Now i want you to observe carefully everything the males do with our women client list. I think it's pretty obvious who works here and who doesn't". The blonde nodded. "There's a lot you have to learn if you don't want to screw up Naruto, but most of it you'll learn as you go. So for tonight you watch and gather as much information as you can. And when you are done there's a room for you upstairs. Vincent or someone else will get you there" she said referring to the man with the shaved head. She was telling him this when apparently she saw something she didn't like and picked up the phone to tell Vincent, her right hand, to have certain people stop wasting time.

"Boy, you need a nickname" she noted when she was done with business. She looked at him once up and down and said "Sunshine, that's it. It suits you the best"

"Sunshine?" repeated Naruto. "That's girly" he said in disagreement.

"Well, that's your nickname" she said with a patronizing tone "You can't give them your real name get it?" He nodded again. If there was no other option he didn't want to get her mad and have him fired before he even started.

"Well Sunshine, i have things to do. I'll leave you here, do as i told you and nothing else"

"Alright"

Xxx

When he thought he had seen enough he poked his head out the door and Vincent went to collect him guiding him to his room for the night. The rooms were as elegant as everything else, the bed sheets looked expensive and felt soft to the touch. When his head touched the pillow it was so comfy he fell asleep almost immediately, but his dreams were plagued with nightmares. It was Tom... dead Tom who wouldn't let go of him, or maybe it was the other way around.

'I was the only one who cared about you cupcake' said the man with his usual leering look . 'You can't lie to me, you enjoyed it, every bit of it'.

'No i didn't' denied the blonde, of course he didn't. But the man just laughed at him as always. Then he disappeared and Naruto was left in the middle of a bloody camp, they were dying, all the people he had come to love, were dying in battle and there was not much more he could do. He was supposed to be a hero, but his friends were still dying out there, it didn't matter how much he ran, how he tried to reach them, it was futile, it was like he wasn't there. He fell to his knees and punched the ground in an angry impulse. But he couldn't even feel it.

'What are you doing here dobe?'. That voice, it was... Sasuke. When he lifted his head his friend was standing there in front of him and everything had become white around them.

'You should be training instead of being here losing my time' said the raven with a scowl. For some reason the sight tore at his heart. His eyes looked dead, 'why Sasuke?' he thought.

'I'm not giving up on you' he heard himself say. But the raven didn't seem to care as he drew his sword from his side and lunged at the blonde without a second thought.

"SASUKE" he heard himself scream as he woke with a start and breathing hardly. He was sitting on a bed that was not his... 'its true... he never left the strange place'. "Sasuke..." he muttered. His face was wet with tears. 'Why am i crying over this guy?'. Then he noticed it, the whispers. But this was something he was getting used to as it was happening often this days. The moving shadows, the sudden flashes of people running around him, jumping, or looking at him with curiosity. It was happening again..."Go away" he willed.

"Go away!" but to no avail the whispers and the visions only seemed to be getting sharper.

_'Naruto... I was worried about you idiot' _told him a pink haired woman with a tear stroked face as she reached out for him. He could almost feel her touch.

"Why would you care so much for me?" he asked her gloomy, but she didn't answer. The voices were coming louder. The blonde cradled his head in his hands. "Shut up dammit!" he said. Then he got a scare when someone opened the door abruptly and entered the room pointing a gun at him. It was Vincent. He gave him a confused look and lowered it. "Why are you screaming boy?"

"I... i'm sorry" muttered Naruto. The voices were making him dizzy. "I was having a nightmare".

"One hell of a nightmare then, i could hear you from downstairs, you're lucky the working hours are over in the great hall" He noted.

"Do you have something for headache?" Naruto wept. He could barely see Vincent's face anymore, and then everything went black.

When he woke up he saw his new creation. There it was, the huge fox in his red glory, asleep...

He preferred this place... it was quiet this time. So it meant he was unconscious now, he was so glad the whispers didn't follow. He got up from the floor and went to reach Kyuuby. He touched his fur, he thought it was weird he could actually feel him. "Oi, fox" he called. But the fox was still the same.

"Oi... Kyuuby!" he shouted. Next thing he was thrown into the air and fell down with a dry 'Oomp'. The fox didn't look too pleased and the blond was grimacing in pain. "I'm sorry, but you wouldn't wake up" Naruto apologized. The fox turned away from him and extended its muscles. The blond got seated on the floor with his legs crossed.

"It was about time" began Kyuuby. "I can't communicate with you like before. Still, i see you didn't take any pills"

"What with them?" asked the blond confused.

"When you took them before you made me dormant, and apparently when you ran out of them i could hear you again".

"I wouldn't know about that" complained Naruto. "But one thing is for sure, both the times i've come here, i have been feeling like shit"

Kyuuby looked interested. "Describe"

"Headaches, dizziness, i see things that are not there, and hear voices. But you know, it's because i've got this strange mental illness... you must be a product of it too" the blonde assured.

The fox growled offended. "I don't like repeating myself boy... i already told you i'm real. And the faster you accept it, the faster we can get working".

"What are you talking about, there's nothing to work in, you are my illness" he pressed.

The fox was getting angry but there was something very strange in all of this. "What do you see?"

Now we are getting somewhere, thought the blonde "Umm... people dressed weirdly. They hold this sharp things and throw them at each other, and a lot of fighting. Also this pink haired girl, a black haired guy named Sasuke, and others who talk to me directly. It's so weird..."

"They are memories" said the fox without a doubt in his voice. "Though it's strange that you see them outside of your head as visions" He frowned. "You may actually be getting sick as you say... and i can't see through your eyes or hear anything from outside unless you are pulled here by yourself... could it be?" he mused to himself.

"I don't understand. But i've got to take my medicines, if i don't, i have this episodes" The fox looked thoughtful and Naruto thought maybe he was mad because he didn't want to see him anymore.

"But i swear, i like you... if you weren't a product of this..."

"Stop right there gaki..." grumbled Kyuuby. "Im not a product of this illness of yours, neither are your dreams, you are only remembering. But by this time you should be already recovering your former self, something is hindering it" he said pacing around the place. "If you take those pills you might stop the process even further, but if you don't... you get sick. We are in a tight situation here..."

"You are one strange guy" said the blonde oblivious as ever. "I can't believe the things my mind comes up with". The fox was going to respond to that but Naruto couldn't hear what he said next as he was pulled back to reality.

"Good, you're awake. It's morning, your father's here to pick you up". It was Vincent again, and he was urging him to get off the bed and go.

Xxx

It was early. When he got home the first thing he did was taking a bath. He and Kei had to go to school. Along the way the other boy wouldn't stop asking questions. Naruto told him his job was waiting tables in an elegant place. Kei was appeased for the moment. However there was not much more room for the boy to keep nagging him as the strangest thing happened to him at school. Everybody was talking to him.

"Woah!" cheered one boy as they were walking on the hallways "There it comes the man"

"Way to go Naruto" said another boy patting his shoulder as he passed. Others gave him the thumps up. But it wasn't all good, there were students who gave him dirty looks as they didn't approve of what he did to the other boy in the cafeteria. Naruto even told them he was sorry but kept walking. The fact that some people loved him right now was because said boy was a known bully, but still, he went a little bit overboard with him, from what he heard he was still recuperating at home.

All day long at school was like this. And when it came the time for lunch. Naruto's table was crowded. This was too much, he had never been popular before. He did nothing and they hated him, now he almost killed a classmate and some people even acclaimed him. On the other side there was a part of him that thought the other boy had it coming, it was about time someone gave him a lesson.

When he and Kei were off from school they were dropped as always on the street to sell the candy. The rest of the time since they were picked up until the time Andrew got Naruto into his new job the blonde used it to do homework and chill with Kei watching TV.

"Naruto, we have to go, hurry" he heard Andrew call from the door.

This was it... he just hoped he understood the game well, it was all about the fun and entertaining others anyway. It couldn't be that hard. He wouldn't screw this up and lose his family. Not for Andrew and Lana, not for him and definitely not for his brother. And with that thought the blonde took a deep breath and stepped out the door putting all his hopes and his being into one single bet.

* * *

**A/N: **Want to share your thoughts with me?


	4. The games we play

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay, but it's here as promised, now to read =).

* * *

**Chapter IV. **_**The games we play**_

* * *

_**Konoha. Fire Elite highschool.**_

Sakura Haruno was ready for school as everyday. She was 14 years old, pretty, and one of the highest scores of her generation. There was only one thing she didn't have... a boyfriend. When she was younger she could have sworn Sasuke Uchiha was her soulmate. She used to blush like mad when she saw him, but after he spoke to her for the first time and he told her, and she quotes 'Stop that nonsense. You don't really want to be with me, trust me'. It was like a bucket had been spilled over her head, at first she was very sad and cried herself to sleep, but after that night nothing was ever the same when it came to the raven.

The dreams from the past started. And for some reason, she took his words by heart. It took some time, but she finally understood what he meant. She started remembering more often and much more clear than before, and one day the dreams and memories that came to her head finally made click into her being. They were no longer the memories of a stranger. She had been Sakura Haruno, a kunoichi from the leaf. And that's when she noticed how much she missed her brutal strength. She hurt her knuckles badly and almost broke her wrist when she tried it.

She had been interested in sports before, but now it was like she needed them. There was no ninja training in this new world, no Konoha academy. This time around school lasted longer and the teachers gave more importance to the training of the mind instead of the body. She was smart as ever. But she could feel the emptiness. That's when she started indulging in every sport she could practice. And to her delight, she found that in no time her reflexes were exercising themselves to be what they used to be. She could do movements she didn't remember. And her abilities overall were still in her. Chakra training was another issue. She had no chakra, and that was the reason her strength was lost forever. Or was it not?.

"Sakura, you're spacing out again" said a platinum blonde haired girl sticking out her tongue to her as she was distracted.

"Ino, stop that" said the pinkette coming back to herself. The blonde laughed under her breath and turned to the front of the class. It had been weird between them at first. Ino was head cheerleader and didn't hang out with anyone from outside her select group. But everyone was shocked when one day at lunch she went to sit right into the table the pink haired girl used to sit and everyone had no choice but to follow. She had thought Ino and her were never going to be friends again. But she was proved wrong. The girl even had the nerve to invite herself to her house on that day. And since then they had been inseparable. Still, she maintained her distance from the other girls 'friends'.

It was not long when she noticed the were other people from her previous life in her school. She was already friends with Shikamaru, she used to look up to him before because he never studied and still got the best scores. Did he remember? and the others?. It became pretty obvious they did after they couldn't contain their glances. She finally got poor Hinata Hyuga out of her missery and talked to her. Though one of the first things she asked was about her old blonde teamate... Naruto.

She had been wondering the same thing, where was the blonde?. To Hinatas dismay nobody she had asked had ever met a 'Naruto' before. The pink haired girl secretly wanted to meet him badly too, she really missed his antics and his overall way of making things better by his mere presence. She also met clever and Mr. popular with the girls Neji, he was tailing his cousin as he took great care of her even if he didn't had to this time, there were not main and branch family division between the Hyugas in this timeline.

Later on a hyperactive and very sporty football player Lee became their friend, he had already been an acquaintance from Ino, and she confessed that she had fancied the boy in the past, along with Uchiha Sasuke, they were hot in different ways. Who would have thought, Rock Lee was popular, but he spent most of his time practicing. He had a rocking body the girls always said. He introduced her to his team and the female football team too, where she was surprised to meet Tenten, she kicked ass in her games the same as Lee.

The past few days Shikamaru had been much more friendly to her than he had been before. But the thin layer they were still holding between them was not broken until he stayed awake in one of their classes and actually introduced Chouji and Kiba to her, and bluntly told her. "And the answer to your question is yes".

But all she managed to said was a lame "huh?". She was totally out of it, Shikamaru never socialized like this, so out of the blue.

"This is so troublesome" he said rubbing the nape of his neck with his hand. "I was expecting i could skip the explanation".

"That's ok. I understand, i'm glad" answered Sakura saving him of this huge ordeal. The boy sighed in relief and smiled slightly at her. Choji offered his potato chips at her, this was a first, and Kiba gave her a feral grin. He was still as dog like as ever, his canines protruded from his mouth as he saluted her "And where is Naruto?" he ended.

"Everybody seems to think i should know" said the pinkette. "It's not been that long since i recovered all my memories you know, i might have seen him before and not remember it"

"He's not in this school" interrupted a boy nobody was talking too. He was using sunglasses inside the classroom.

"Shino?" asked Sakura dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?". the bug boy wasn't into their class. He stayed silent. Oh well, he was always weird. "Why are you still using glasses, i don't think you need them anymore" she noted. The other boy pulled them up his head and looked at her with deep brown eyes. "It's a habit" he explained shortly.

Xxx

In lunch Period they seated together. It was weird for everyone how they got together from one day to the other, but they couldn't care less. Shino was talking to Shikamaru about how he missed his dear bugs. He had a fish tank full of them at home but there was no contract anymore and all he could do was feed them and watch. Kiba was arguing that it was disgusting and there was nothing compared to not having Akamaru by his side. Besides him the pineapple haired boy was the only one trying to look interested. Or as interested as he could look because he was really deep in thought. Choji was too distracted eating his beloved food he jumped when someone put his hand over his shoulder and robbed him of his pork chips.

"Hey!, give that back!" Choji complained. It was a pale boy with short black hair.

"Sai?" started Sakura looking puzzled. "Where would you come from?... I've never seen you around the school"

"Hello ugly" he saluted. The pink haired girl popped a vein and was about to punch him when she remembered the other boy had issues managing human emotions. But this time around too?. He was a messed up guy."I wasn't enrolled yet. But i figured you would all be here"

"You figured?" inquired Sakura creasing an eyebrow. He couldn't simply figure that out, it wasn't something obvious.

"Don't you know? most families from the golden age have sent their progeny to Fire Elite over the years".

"Where did you get that information?" said Shikamaru getting serious.

"The government archives of course" said the pale boy as if it was the most common thing to say. Everybody made a face that read 'come again?'. Shikamaru on his part seemed to have his cogwheels working fast as he exchanged a meaning look with Sai and the other nodded simply.

"I-It's nice having you here Sai-kun" said Hinata shyly breaking the tension. Her cousin was looking at her from another table full of jocks and he gave Sai a warning look, but the pale boy wasn't paying attention to the lilac eyed girl. Lee and Tenten were there with some of their team members. Tenten waved at Sakura and Hinata from afar and they returned the gesture just in time to catch a glimpse at Ino who was coming towards their table.

"I see the whole family is here" the blonde said embracing Sakura from behind in a friendly manner and giving them a smile.

"who said anything about a family?" replied Kiba.

"It's just a way of putting it, don't make a fuss" retorted Ino.

"Just stop it Kiba" demanded Shikamaru putting a hand on his shoulder. "But to tell the truth. We are still not a 'family' as you put it Ino. There's one children missing, and a couple cousins we don't know anything about yet". The pale eyed blonde smiled at him for following her little game.

"By the child you mean Naruto don't you?"she inquired.

"And the cousins have to be the sand siblings" ended Sakura.

"That's accurate" Shikamaru said with a bored look on the surface. "Have anyone met their sensei yet?". Of course he would be eager to meet with Asuma Sensei once again. And with Temari of the sand, the woman he made his wife back then.

"The only person i've met from my team is Sasuke. No such luck" expressed Sakura a little bit discouraged.

"He's a bastard as always" said Kiba scrunching up his nose like he was smelling something particularly disgusting.

Sakura frowned and complained "He's actually not that bad. I think you should give him a chance". Everyone except for Ino, Hinata and Sai looked as if she had grown a second head.

"At least he's not asexual as back then" commented Sai. "That's what the book said"

"Have you been reading Shino's books or something?" asked Kiba raising an eyebrow. "You are a weirdo".

"You are not one to talk dog boy" disagreed Ino. And that's how their days passed from then on. At least until something actually threw them away from their normal behavioral pattern. There was a new student joining their class, and according to the gossip he was coming from America. Today was his first day at school and the teacher was all about presenting him to the group right now.

"Come in" The woman said opening the door for him.

"Please welcome your new classmate, i'm sure there's a lot he could share with us from the U.S.A". When the guy stepped into the classroom it was an understatement to say that the old rookies froze into their spots, they were blatantly gaping. What they had in front of them was a black haired and slightly lighter skinned version of their old comrade Naruto, dressed in black pants, wine red t-shirt, bands on his arms, and his hands on his pockets.

"Hello everyone. My name is Menma Uzumaki... and i don't expect you to be my friends" ended the boy with a smirk.

Xxx

_**Present time. Two years later.**_

_Xxx_

Jiraya was an agent know for his high investigation skills. The man would travel the world in the look out of every little clue, and he enjoyed it. He loved his work, he was a professional, anybody doubted it. But when it came to cases like this one, he reserved his rights to kill on sight.

His team had been working in finding and tearing apart a huge web of child sexual exploitation. But they seemed to crawl under every rock in the country. There was so much money and high interests of the people with power, that it was something extremely alluring for the active scourge in the business.

They had been given the signal of one of the finest sex slavery houses in the country, it was in Whirpool. The prices were high. The pleasures were unlimited. It was a dream producer... more accurately, a sexual fantasy bank. And it was not as if that was wrong, he himself indulged into some frenzied sex rides. But when those fantasy's included children... well, you get it right?. Jiraya could stand for a lot of crazy stuff and his very own book series of porn writing, but this was his limit. Right this moment he and his team were in Whirpool city tracking the place and they were going to dismantle the goddam thing in a couple hours.

"We'll wreck this mother fuckers down boss"

"You got that right" answered Jiraya to his subordinate as he gave his precious macchiato one more sip. "Making any progress with the website?"

"I'm on it. But they've got a tight security, there must be some mutts working on this 24/7"

"There's no mutt like you Mason" cheered Jiraya in his usual joking manner "Don't give them a break".

Mason gave him the thumbs up as he laughed to himself. "You've got that right, i'm a cannibal"

Jiraya laughed sonorously. "Very well" he ended before his cellphone rang to a catchy ringtone. He wished he had a hot mamma to dance to its rhythm all night long, over him. 'Oh hell. Not the right time to think of this'.

"Agent J speaking" he answered the phone. The white haired man could have dropped his macchiato right then if it wasn't because he had fast reflexes.

"Minato... what?. That's great news!. When?... Tsunade will be thrilled, there's no problem. See you then". It had been ages since he last met him. Kushina was pregnant and the baby was being born soon, he had to be there.

"Agent" called a woman in a rush "Just so you know. We got an emergency call and we are mobilizing to the area near the Rain memorial school. There's 4 people dead in a house in the vicinity".

"I'm coming with you". Might as well do something useful while his team was covering the reconnaissance mission. There might be some information he could gather there anyway. The white haired man took only a second to put on his jacket and went to follow the woman out the door.

Xxx

Mistery case. That's what he would call it. There were three men with no apparent cause of dead. No wounds, no blood, no weapons other than the ones they had been holding. And lying in the kitchen was a forth one killed by a gun. There was a woman holding the man in the kitchen and sobbing uncontrollably. Then he almost missed it but there was a boy hiding sitting unmoving in a corner. He was in shock. The man lying on the floor must have been his father, and the woman his wife. Jiraya couldn't bear to look at them, he took the wife away from the body and put her in the care of one of the paramedics. He came back for the boy crouched down and lifted his chin.

"Boy" he called "Oi, kid" The boy seemed unresponsive. He snapped his fingers and slapped his face lightly. 'Poor kid'. "I'm taking you outta here". He said taking him in his arms and passing by the forensic force who were entering the place. As he was walking outside he heard him mutter something. "Brother... Naru". Brother?, there was a kid missing then. His cell phone startled him out of his musings with an insistent call. It must be his team.

"Asaku, i'm leaving the boy with you" He said giving him to a man from whirlpool's police who nodded to him.

"J speaking... that's great news. It's almost time too... wait until they are crowded. I'm attending a case nearby... i'm not that far, give me ten minutes" He pleaded and hanged up without further notice. "I have to get going" he said to the police woman from earlier "But let me tell you, this looks like a settling of scores, you should see about their criminal records. Oh, and before i forget to tell you, the boy said something about a brother though, he was nowhere in the house". He assured as he was getting into his car, and as an afterthought he added "Send them to crisis intervention. Don't push them, they'll come around". He was going to follow this case, there was something really strange going on here.

Xxx xxX

After finding himself bloody and with his clothes torn to rags in a dirty alley Naruto had come back home to police, paramedics, and all the circus in front of it. He had seen the men dressed in white take out a body fully covered by a sheet. His brother seemed shocked, his mother was crying, and his father was nowhere to be seen. He panicked...' It wasn't Andrew right, right?' maybe it was a burglar. It couldn't be his dad. IT WAS NOT HIS DAD.' The blond had to see, he had to know. But as he ran toward his house with all his might he felt arms take him from behind in a restraining grip and a wet rag was pressed to his nose. He knew no more.

Xxx

The next day Naruto woke up feeling very dizzy. It had to be his fate to pass out all the time. But at least this once he remembered everything clearly and this made him spring into alertness. He had been put down to sleep... like in the movies?, 'oh hell... he hadn't been kidnapped right?'. This was a prove things could always get worse... and besides he still didn't know what happened to his family.

He was lying in a bed into a dimly illuminated room. He wasn't tied, and nothing in his body was hurting out of the blue like it did lately. Talking about lately... Something had seriously changed in him... 'maybe it was always there', whispered a voice into his head. How should he know?. He thought he felt better now, the next step was of course going to investigate what this was all about. He needed out, and soon. Kei, Andrew and Lana might be needing him.

Getting off the bed sloppily he made his way towards the door, and to his surprise it was open. Ok. He hadn't been kidnapped then? or maybe his kidnappers were just dumb or really confident of themselves?. When he opened the door he found himself face to face with a person who could only be Vincent's brother. Or maybe not, but he had his head shaved like him, only unlike the other man this one wore black sunglasses in plain morning.

As the blond was opening the door the man was already into his phone talking to a somebody who was apparently expecting him to wake up, and down the hallway you could get a glimpse of a gray haired man with a ponytail strolling towards him. And he was ready to propel into a furious persecution when he recognized him.

"Kabuto-san?" inquired Naruto stunned. He knew the man, it was the right hand of Nadine's boss, Orochimaru-sama.

"Calm down Sunshine" pleaded the gray haired man "You're safe here"

"Safe..." the blonde muttered. "Why did you brought me here like this? i would have come with you if only you asked. And now i'm in the dark about my parents and my brother... i need to see them"

"About that, i know what happened but... why don't you come with me down to the dining room first. Aren't you hungry?". Now that he mentioned it, he was. And as if on cue his stomach answered for him with a loud grumble. Kabuto chuckled. "follow me"

It was as if he hadn't eaten in a week. The blond stuffed himself with food, and they even had ice cream. He felt like he would roll instead of walking when he tried. That's when he noticed Kabuto had been watching him the whole time. What's with the guy?.

"Are you satisfied yet?" the man inquired.

"I'm good". The blond answered, if the chef brought one more thing he would explode. And yes, there was a personal chef in here, how cool was that? This Orochimaru was loaded for sure. And by the way, where was the man?, he had not seen him yet.

"So, will you tell me what happened now?" pushed the blonde leaving his food predicament behind. Andrew... he wanted to know. "My dad. Does he know i'm here? he will be mad if he doesn't"

"That's not possible for him anymore Naruto-kun" began the man. "I'm so sorry...".

"What for?" asked the azure eyed boy uncomprehending.

"Mr. Andrew... he was killed last night Sunny" ended Kabuto with Orochimarus usual pet name for Naruto. 'What?' This was a joke right?. The man was always bent on taunting him and making rude remarks.

"You're lying" assured the blonde, but his body told the man otherwise as his muscles went rigid and his breath hitched.

"I'm afraid i'm not" replied the man unfazed. "It was you who killed him after all...", this last words were like an echo into the blondes head and he was not processing it. 'he killed... Andrew, no... it wasn't true...'.

"Stop it!, don't play with such things".

The gray haired man shook his head in disappointment. "It's your decision if you don't want to believe me, but if you go out there and look for your family, the state won't take you back to the orphanage, they'll send you straight to jail"

'I didnt do it... i can't go to jail' though the blonde. "And let me tell you something else" commented Kabuto, "Your brother is so afraid of you he had to be send into your beloved mental clinic. It wouldn't be any good for him to see you, he probably hates you".

'Kei... hates me?... no, he wouldn't.' "NO" Naruto shouted. "It's not true... it's just not, Kei promised..."

"Promised? what... to be loyal?. Do you really think that he still cares about you after you killed his father?" spat Kabuto.

"He is my father too you know? There must be a mistake-" the blonde complained but the gray haired man interrupted him.

"Just answer me this... had you been taking your medication, yes o no?" asked Kabuto sternly.

The blond stopped cold. Medication?... No, he hadn't. He wanted to talk with kyuuby again... It had been a week since. In that moment the blondes eyes widened in fear and he noticed he was grabbing the table by the edge with such force his nails had left a nasty trail. He opened his mouth and closed it twice before stuttering . "N-no... i... i couldn't have..." His gut tightened as he felt hot tears prickling into his eyes.

The man was more interested in looking at the damage Naruto had caused to the expensive mahogany table than to look at him. "You went out of control and stabbed him multiple times with a knife. He didn't stand a chance Sunny... that's a fact". The blonde shook his head in denial and looked down to the floor but the nagging tears betrayed him falling from his cheeks and then his stomach lurched making him feel nauseated. In one second he was vomiting everything he had just eaten into the marble floor. The gray haired man looked at him in disgust as he got out of the way.

Xxx

After Naruto's conversation with Kabuto the boy was cleaned up by one of the maids and brought to the room he had been earlier. He didn't talk to anyone, he was crying silently and staring almost unblinking to the ceiling. He didn't deserve being alive, the blond though as his old friends danced in front of his eyes with a sneer on their faces, they hated him now too?... like Keiichi. He wouldn't see Andrew ever again... and it was all his fault. His head was pounding but he couldn't care less. By the corner of his eye he noticed someone entering to the room, and then he saw the face of the maid from earlier looming over him. She looked worried.

"Here Naruto-kun" said the young woman taking something from a tray she was holding. it was a little plastic glass with two pills. "This are your medicines, please sit up so you can take them" she said gently taking the glass of water next. The blond did as he was told without protesting and swallowed them quickly going back to his previous position but turning away from the woman. He couldn't look at anybody in the face, but he muttered a weak "Thank you".

Hours passed, he didn't know how much time he had been on bed, the pain had slowly receded and his head was swimming now along with his vision. It was oddly entertaining to see the waves on the floor. But then the usual tremors when taking the medicine started from one second to the other. He was used to them, they didn't even interfere with his job. Clients always found the way of playing 'The game' with him no matter what his state was. Some of them almost found it 'interesting' as they said, because he seemed more 'vulnerable', and they loved it. He didn't understand their line of thought... how was that supposed to be fun for him?.

He didn't want to think about the day before. Anything would do now... so he settled for remembering about the gaming house, that's what he called it at least, he heard other workers call it sex house. And he didn't understand until one of his usual customers decided she wanted to play a little bit more with him. She had him on a leash and made him kiss her with wine on his mouth. She would moan and the first time he heard it he had been startled. Though the sound was strangely pleasant. After that she seemed to be breathing hard, she took him by the leach and dragged him to his assigned room upstairs and stripped of every piece of cloth she had on and did the same with Naruto.

"Kiss me" she had ordered as she sprawled herself on the bed. And he had obeyed but, she put a hand on his mouth "That's not where i want you to kiss me". she said pushing him down below her belly button. It was the first time he saw a woman naked and he drank into the sight to be permanently burned into his mind. She was a pale, slender, blue haired woman with an average breast size. So she had him kiss her after all... and he did. Only he never thought he could kiss such a place, and then he learned that in doing so a woman would produce much more pleasant sounds than before, and when he had looked at her with his big blue eyes she had made the best of them all twisting her body and pressing her legs over him. It had been worth it... this game. But she didn't stop at that, like a wild animal she scrambled to her knees and took hold of his member. He was stunned for a moment.

"No. Miss... please don't do that" he had told her retreating from her. The only other person who had done that to him was... Tom. Why was she doing it too? this wasn't part of the game... because if it was, then Tom had been playing with him. And It had felt good... he felt that warm into his lower body and then... it had been fun until the man became mad at him, as hard as it was to accept. But It's wrong, it was all wrong.

What with the people from Whirpool's University?, they said an adult can't touch a kid like that. 'But they didn't say anything about you not touching them' said his inner voice. It's true, and they said it is ok between people from the opposite sex... but she's an adult he reminded himself. They said we could do this things when we felt prepared and we wanted to do it. 'And don't you want to?'. Yes... 'Then play the game'.

She looked at him expectant from the bed. "Aren't you having fun Sunshine?" the woman had told him looking displeased.

"I am. please forgive me" he said apologizing to her and lurching back into the bed, he didn't want her to be mad, he would be fired!. He had to play this game. "What are we playing next? he asked eager.

"This game is specially for you" she assured with her eyes glazed. "You will feel very good". She started stroking him again and the blonde had closed his eyes tightly shut as she pushed him down the bed. "You can touch me too" she had said half giving permission and half demanding. When she saw that he didn't know what to do exactly, she put his hands over her breasts and told her to massage them. After some time she straddled him and the blonde felt something warm going down on him, enclosing him. 'This... what is this?'...

It had been the first of many times he had to play that game, but all the women liked it. Though some of them liked that he used strange objects on them and they liked hitting him with what they called a whip, or have him whip them instead. When he had finally come to terms with the game after doing it for almost two years, and having finally realized it was simply sex, Nadine had something else in store for him. She started promoting him with her male customers... and he just knew he couldn't do it. Telling Andrew was out of question, the blonde didn't want to trouble his dad with his problems anymore. Besides the man was the happiest and most relaxed Naruto had seen him since he had become his and Kei's dad, and that made the blond happy.

After he plainly refused to take male customers it became clear he didn't really have a choice in the matter anymore. Nadine had him beaten for his stubbornness and held back his due payment. He knew he could lie to his dad about the beatings... but not the money. He finally acceded to Nadine's imposition. He started taking costumers on the big hall... it was all about getting to know them, drinking with them and entertaining them overall just like with the women. Though some men liked putting cat ears into him along with the leash and cuffs and then call him 'foxy sunshine'. But the time came when one of them wanted to 'Play a little more'. In the last minute he repented... he had a breakdown and bit his customer. There's no telling how badly he was beaten this time. He wouldn't be able to work for a while.

When the blonde finally got himself home as he could at down and Andrew saw him hell broke loose. He wouldn't buy the lie Naruto told him about his physical state. Kei had been so shaken he couldn't keep himself one second away from the blonde, skipped school and along with Lana took the duty to heal him as much as they could, they couldn't take him to the hospital Andrew had said. The man was so mad he went right then to talk with Nadine, and when he came back he told the blonde he didn't have to follow that old witch's orders, she had been warned, he still had other connections after all. No son of him was going to be gay he told him in private. For some reason the confession brought chills down the blondes body...' he wasn't, was he?...'

Naruto didn't know if he was happy or not about this new turn of events, and then everything went downhill from there. He missed classes, couldn't go selling the candy and Nadine made sure he paid hell when going to the sex house. At home things weren't any better, Andrew was mad all the time... he hit Lana often and almost had hit Kei too if it wasn't because the woman put herself in between. Naruto hated it. He hated himself from bringing disgrace into his little family. When his health was better he thought maybe he could fix things back to normal, but it proved to be nothing more than wishful thinking, for he had killed his dad the day after...

Xxx xxX

The youngest son of the multimillionaire magnate Fugaku Uchiha was know for a lot of things. You could call him a bastard... but a very clever one at that. He was not a people person... but a witty bastard that knew exactly how to make you think he was, and have you fall into his trap as easy as a fly into a spiders web. You could say he's the most rude, or the most charming young boy you've ever met. And you could hate him to death, but still marvel with his rocking body and a face that had to be carved in marble by the very angels. And then remember he would never be for you... because over all those things, you knew he was a first class player, and why would he want to be with you in the first place?.

That however was not something which would give the beautiful raven a sleepless night. He was not to be occupied by such mundane girl problems. He could have you at his feet if he wanted, but most times he didn't. And if you went to the same highschool as him, there were high standards to fulfill. And you gave up, but still couldn't help but to wonder what went on into his head, what was he really looking into a woman?.

"Sex" Said a light purple haired girl. "That's all the boys our age and older want, and he's no different"

"Well, i have to agree with Mika, he's quite the player, you know the rumors... "Continued another girl.

"But... why is he so picky with taking girls from Fire Elite then? don't you think it's odd?" said a redhead called Riku.

"Maybe he just wants to keep a low profile inside the school".

"Or he's got something to hide" assured Mika smirking to herself. 'What are you hiding Uchiha?. "But anyway, the guy is hawt!"said the girl with a sultry tone.

"Maybe you could go for him" encouraged Riku smiling at her. "You are a pretty girl Mika, you got lots of admirers". The light purple haired girl looked at her unfazed and after a second she smiled in return. Mika knew it was all about the sex, but she just had to get a taste of that body. And why not, she could manipulate him to stay with her one way or another "Maybe i will".

"If any of us has a chance... it has to be you". Said the black haired girl just in time to see another boy get into their vision range. "Oh dear..." she started again breathless "Hottie alarm girls...". They all turned at the same time to get a glimpse of a very hot and delectable Menma Uzumaki just out from gym class with sweat trickling down the line of his hair and into his neck... and down his abs... they were openly ogling him and the boy send a glare their way. But they didn't care.

"I would totally hit that" Said Riku bitting her lower lip and sighing hotly. "That's why i freaking love this spot...". And as if on cue one Sasuke Uchiha came out from the building in his handsome glory and spotless everyday appearance, he was apparently following the other boy because he called out "Uzumaki!". Menma stopped and seemed to get rigid with a scowl on his face.

"What do you want Uchiha?" asked the short tempered blue eyed boy turning to look at the raven who stood in front of him with his expressionless face.

"I need to talk to you" said Sasuke with a tone that read there was no room for arguing.

"Oh... turns out i don't" spat the slightly shorter boy sneering at him and turning around to walk away. But for some reason the raven who was never moved by anything, got a fleeting expression of disjoint on his face and the girls had to stifle a sound of surprise when they saw it. They couldn't believe they witnessed that. Next thing Sasuke rapidly reached Menma and slammed him hard against the nearest wall being too close for comfort.

"You can stop feigning now" demanded the raven looking at him in the eye unwavering, and the other boy stayed put with the challenge. But then Sasuke seemed to notice something strange in the other boy and frowned. The girls were blushing profusely at the scene as far from seeing it as a little violent they thought it was hot stuff. Two sexy guys, so close... that yummy tension, or at least that's what they thought. Riku who had been blatantly gaping got a hand into the bridge of her nose and threw her head back as a trickle of blood went down to her mouth. "Th-thats... so"

"Hot" finished the black haired girl giving the other a kleenex.

"Girls... we want them for us, not to get cozy with each other. As hot as that is..." scolded Mika clearing her throat and trying to stop the blushing madness.

"I wouldn't mind..." confessed Riku stealing a glazed look at the two boys. The Uzumaki had slided down the wall and lurched out of the ravens grasp making a spring for the entrance gate. The Uchiha didn't do anything to stop him, but seemed to be deep in thought as he walked back inside.

Xxx

"Sasuke-kun" called out Sakura to the onyx eyed boy who had just entered the building. "Here you are... the council meeting's already started", she announced.

"I know" He said getting back his cool but he didn't stop to wait for her. The pinkette had to go faster to keep up with him and walk by his side. After she remembered everything and the rookies had gotten to know each other again she was the only one who had the opportunity to talk more than a few words with him. She had waited for him after their obligatory council meeting and went to stand on his way. They had looked at each other for three seconds when the raven finally said something.

"So you finally remember... it took you long" he declared.

So he had come around much earlier than her it seems. "Since when?" she asked.

"I was 9 years old when it happened" he replied unfazed.

"No way!... everybody else remembered at 13 or 14 years old, how come?". She couldn't believe him, he was too young it must have been a childhood binder.

"Unlike most of you, us the Uchiha's are early memory bloomers" he explained. But when he saw her next question coming he added "We don't know why yet".

"I see..." she stopped thinking how she was going to say what she wanted to ask him "I ahm-, well i was wondering... will you join us sometime at the school cafeteria?, or maybe after school?, we get together often". She had been expecting him to bluntly refuse her, but to her surprise he actually thought about it for a second.

"I don't see how my presence could be welcome". This was a huge change from the Sasuke from back then... he was respectful instead of scowling, insulting their guts bluntly and darting away or simply saying 'No'. After the war the boy had come back to them but was cold and aloof. The only one who ever managed to get under the thick carcass the raven put onto was Naruto. However she would tag along with them and with time he would relax around her a little bit too. It brought a smile to her lips as she reminisced.

'He's had a different life. Maybe he will try this time...' she thought. "I think you should come around with us at 5:00pm, we're going to the movies and then we're getting dinner". He gave her a serious look but nodded nonetheless.

"If there isn't anything else you want to tell me i'll get going" He announced. But she had something to say "I want to thank you...". The raven stopped at the door and stared at her curious.

"What you told me back then... you have no idea how much it helped me" she said giving him a warm smile.

"I wasn't expecting anything less from you" he stated to Sakura's surprise nodding and getting on his way. But the pinkette could have sworn he smiled back at her. She had learned her lesson well...

Xxx

It had been two years since they had that conversation. And in the end it turned out the boy had actually showed up to hang out with them, only he got girl company with him. It startled everyone but Sai who had behaved relatively well with his usual unintentional snide comments. Hinata, Ino and herself had been kind to him and the girl, but it took the others a couple hours and some witty remarks from the raven about the movie to have them chill about the subject.

It had gone well in the end and since that day the raven used to make the very occasional visit to their table at the cafeteria. He rarely went to their reunions after school but she thought it was better than never going at all. One time he even gave them tickets for an exclusive event you wouldn't ever get to know about if it wasn't for him and his family connections.

Right now the raven seemed to be pondering about something. And Sakura thought she knew exactly what it was, 'so the time had finally come?... she wondered if he was finally stepping over his pride and would admit that he was worried about blonde as they were. Sasuke had been ignoring him pretty much since the other got here... but lately 'Menma' as Naruto went this days, had been getting worse than just a bad attitude, he picked fights more often and missed classes all the time.

"It's about Naruto isn't it?" the green eyed girl told Sasuke out of the blue. He looked briefly surprised and turned to see her with an expectant look. 'So she was right' she thought smiling to herself. It had been easy, back then after the war, there were very few topics that would get Sasuke that way, and Naruto was one of them. Besides, the raven had been acting more like himself lately, not that she particularly liked it... the new Sasuke was better, but she couldn't really put the blame on Naruto, that would be selfish and stupid.

Talking about the blonde... ever since he had appeared in Fire Elite school with a different name, appearance and attitude completely opposite to what he used to be, herself and the rest of the old rookies had been racking their brains trying to find ways of making Naruto remember. He didn't seem to know a thing about them and he had proved to be a troublesome guy from the start. But they couldn't do anything as the other boy wouldn't let them get any close. He was a hateful being with a sever disrespect for rules and standards, and a dark, sexy sense of fashion. Where was he coming from?.

At first everybody had been overly friendly with the azure eyed boy but he would soon explode and call them 'freaks'. It didn't matter what he said however because they called him Naruto whether he liked it or not. He was hot tempered and told them he was not named after a fishcake. "My name is Menma!... Menma! you hear" he repeated at least twice.

They hoped whatever was blocking the blonds memories would dissolve soon because if not, they were going to drive him crazy. Much more now that Sasuke had finally started showing some concern about the former blond and to their surprise, passed from complete indifference to constant mockery, more often than not about his fake hair as they thought it was. They still couldn't come to terms about why it bothered the Uchiha so much, that he would interrupt his precious time with his girl only to taunt the azure eyed boy.

"Why dye your hair, do you want to look like me? not a chance dobe...".

"You wish you looked like me!" Menma replied in anger "I've already told you, i don't dye my hair duck butt!". Sasuke would get back to ignoring him after that and drag one of the only girls he happened to take from Fire Elite to some place private.

Xxx

Why did they have to come back to this place?. He was tired of those crazy students who wouldn't stop calling him 'Naruto this, Naruto that' and whining at him about not remembering and claiming that his black hair was fake. And that Sasuke guy, what did he mean with, 'You can stop feigning now'. When would he get it already? did he have to get naked so that he believed him his hair was natural? and definetly NOT Naruto. He didn't quite like any of them... ok maybe except the lilac eyed girl, he found her cute and she had a big rack...

"Oi Menma, i'm talking to you". it couldn't be... couldn't he be left alone even outside of school? maybe he should just drop after all, this was getting ridiculous. It was that Shikamaru guy. But then he stopped dead on his tracks. 'Did he just call me Menma?'... maybe his luck was coming back to him. He decided he would humor the guy this time, 'I like to hear my name for a change'.

"What do you want?"

"There's something i want to ask you" it seemed they all wanted to talk with him today, "So i'll just go straight out and say it, do you have a twin?". 'Huh?', of all the questions the boy could have asked him... did he have twin?.

"I don't" Menma answered as Shikamaru gave a tired sight and looked to his right muttering 'Troublesome'. But Menma wasn't done yet, "My twin died at birth". And it was as if a thousand bricks had fallen from the sky and mentally pummeled the poor boy to the ground because from one moment to the other he seemed to need something to hang onto.

Naruto Uzumaki... he wasn't even born...

* * *

**A/N:** Fan service for the girls at school ;).

Sasuke, Sai, Neji, Lee, Shino and Tenten are in the same grade as the others, only they are in a different group. If by this point you are still wondering who is Menma, i invite you to go and watch the Naruto Shippuuden movie 6 "Road to ninja". Menma is Naruto's evil counterpart. I guess i wanted to see more of him and because i can't, i put him here n.n, What do you think?.


End file.
